On December 4, the United States Supreme court lifted lower court injunctions and allowed the most recent version of the Administration travel ban to become effective. In October, federal judges in Maryland and Hawaii had enjoined major portions of the latest ban while legal challenges moved forward.
Both lower court injunctions ultimately incorporated language from the Supreme Court’s decision over last summer limiting application of the travel restrictions to those without ties to the US – and so in theory complied with the Supreme Court’s earlier determination – the Supreme Court invalidated them anyway. No reason was given for the change in the Order, and many legal scholars are regarding the change as a sign that the Court will ultimately side with the Administration on the merits of the case.
Although Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg dissented, noting that they would have left the injunction in place, and the court urged the lower appeals courts to expeditiously arrive at a decision on the merits of the case, the court’s brief order means that the administration can fully enforce its new restrictions on travel from eight nations of which six are predominantly Muslim. Most citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and North Korea (as well as some groups of people from Venezuela) will be barred from entering the United States.
The restrictions vary in their details, but in most cases, citizens of the countries will be unable to emigrate to the United States permanently and many will be barred from working, studying or vacationing here.